What we've been up to

First off, we had a great Thanksgiving. It was truly wonderful and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I cooked my first REAL meal. In years past I've admittedly served my little family of two - cringes - a turkey roll. My mother has always been appalled, and yes, she is right. She raised me better than that. I knew I had to woman up and start making a real Tday meal soon, add in two extra soldiers who were away from loved ones, and it was settled. I was going big.

I was mostly scared to clean the bird out, I'll admit it.



But, our good friends, The Galas's, came over to drop over some spices that I found myself without and ended up staying for hours. Nancy gave me some added confidence and in the end, the turkey was actually extremely perfect.

Everything else was homemade except the cranberry sauce. Sue me, nothing beats that canned jelly goodness. The gravy would have been disastrous if it weren't for Mel's husband, Al. God bless him. We all enjoyed the meal, some more than others, and I can't lie.. it's made me feel all kinds of good inside to hear my husband brag on me endlessly for the past week. Love that man.

We did a lot of playing outside on Thanksgiving in between cooking.



Yes, I realize this face is a bit of foreshadowing to the trouble this kid is going to be in the future. I'm totally aware and preparing myself.

 The next day, we put up our Christmas decorations. I couldn't wait a second longer and I'm so glad we did. I love that I can get that calming glow from the tree starting at 4:30 in the afternoon and get to enjoy it all night. Andrew is pretty infatuated which thrills me even more.

He had the whole "be gentle" thing down on the first two days, but he is getting braver and thus, less gentler by the day.. Bless his heart... or mine.

We've been playing with Jingle Bells.

And venturing into the world of Sensory Bins. I'm getting all kinds of ideas. Getting our materials gathered and organized. Oh yeahhh.. we're gonna have a blast. I started with water yesterday. Which was easy and I knew he'd have a blast.. but oh-so-messy. Totally worth it.

And finally, busy turning 15 months old. Yes, mum, there's a post to come!